businessinfomag.uk
magazine
16
Pricing for larger
format screen
sizes is reducing
as production
becomes more
efficient and
capacity is
increased
Sales of Large Format Displays are on the up.
Business Info
finds out why.
European sales of commercial Large
Format Displays (LFDs) reached
748,000 units in 2015, a year-on-year
volume growth of 19%, according to
analysis by Futuresource Consulting
for Sony.
Demand for big screen sizes is rising,
with shipments of LFDs over 60 inches
in size growing by more than 70% in
2015, to reach 131K units. Sales are
predicted to rise to 192k units by 2018.
LDFs are popular in a variety of
industries and their applications are
wide-ranging, as Thomas Walter, section
manager strategic product marketing at
NEC Display Solutions Europe GmbH,
points out.
He said: “LFDs deliver animated
posters and advertising; they also
offer information, such as menus,
promotions or flight times; acting
as a digital consultant, they provide
wayfinding and can be used as a
kiosk for browsing and ordering; LFDs
support presentation and collaboration
to facilitate positive meeting results;
in professional environments, they
deliver detailed financial and market
data; and, even more crucially, in the
operating theatre they support surgeons
with medical images. There are so
many more examples; some deliver
a communication, others encourage
bi-directional interaction, but they all
engage the audience in some way.”
The main factors behind growth in
the LFD market, says BrianWei, director
of commercial displays at ViewSonic
Europe, are an increase in demand
for high-quality digital signage in the
retail sector and a “strong uptake by
educational institutions and businesses
that are choosing to adopt the use of
touch-screen Interactive Flat Panels
(IFPs) for collaborative presentations and
learning”.
In retail, a big driver is the desire to
capture the attention of passers-by with
impressive digital images both in-store
and outside. Holger Graeff, general
manager of Vivitek EMEA, said: “As the
technology develops and progresses, it
The bigger picture
allows designers to be more creative
with their content and share and display
their work with perfect image quality.”
Enhanced meetings
Natalie Harris-Briggs, VP of marketing
at Avocor, highlights the education and
corporate sectors as key growth areas.
“The education sector is very much
a replacement market, where we are
witnessing schools upgrade their legacy
interactive whiteboard and projector
technology, moving to large format
displays, whereas the corporate market
has started to use display technology to
enhance the meeting room experience.
Improved productivity and greater work
efficiency as a result of collaboration and
meeting room technology should facilitate
this.We can collaborate every day on
tablets, laptops and ‘individual’ screens,
but true and effective collaboration
happens on a ‘shared’ screen,” she said.
NEC’s Walter adds that we mustn’t
forget the role that affordability plays in
driving growth. “Pricing for larger format
screen sizes is reducing as production
becomes more efficient and capacity is
increased. Low-cost, entry-level options
are making digital available to everyone,
such as NEC’s E series with built-in
playback capabilities,” he said.
Walter sees integrated or embedded
technology as another major trend, citing
NEC’s recent partnership with Raspberry
Pi to bring embedded computing power
to its V & P Series large format displays,
as well as NEC’s ability to deliver
context-aware signage that shows
content relevant to the viewer.
“Through measurement of a visitor’s
behaviour, digital signage becomes more
effective and attractive. Data such as age,
gender and dwell time enable retailers
to provide better services, consultancy
and product choice in line with an
individual’s preferences to deliver a
personalised experience.”
Wei of ViewSonic has also seen
a move towards smarter all-in-one
displays that don’t require the purchase
of additional media players or software.
“Products that offer users a simple, quick
installation and enable them to display
content almost immediately are proving
most popular,” he said.
Chris Farinacci,
Head of Business,
Asana
ViewSonic Digital
Signage
DISPLAYS
Key questions
Natalie Harris-Briggs
1
, VP of marketing at Avocor, and ThomasWalter
2
,
strategic product marketing at NEC Display Solutions Europe, list some of the
questions to ask before choosing an LFD
1
•
How easy will adoption of the technology be – does it require lengthy end
user training?
•
Can the solution be tailored to changing business requirements as your
company grows?
•
Can legacy equipment easily be added to the solution or is the technology
propriety, therefore locking you in?
2
•
Is there high ambient light, requiring a higher brightness display, or risk of
damage, requiring a housing or protective glass?
•
How will you control the content and manage servicing and maintenance?
•
How will content be fed to the screen – will a network connection be required
or seamless integration of a PC or player?
